TM - May 2008 - (Page 38) recruitment & retention assessment & evaluation compensation & benefits performance management learning & development succession planning Informality and Confidentiality Key to Successful Mentoring Kellye Whitney Less than a year ago, Avnet Inc. — one of the world’s largest distributors of semiconductors, connectors, passive and electromechanical components — began a mentoring program to create a link between talent development and succession planning. “We feel it’s very important to provide development opportunities for all employees, whether they’re in a succession path or not,” said MaryAnn Miller, vice president of talent and organizational effectiveness at Avnet Inc. Miller said succession planning is key, especially for the top three tiers of the company, but she wanted to create a program with a broader focus and a more disciplined process. When employee feedback from Avnet’s global employee survey confirmed additional development opportunities were appealing, she said she knew mentoring, as one piece of development in a robust talent management succession process, would be a competitive advantage. Managers, she said, provide accountability with their feedback. Coaches provide knowledge-based feedback. With mentors, the relationship is all about fit, an interpersonal and confidential connection from people who have had challenges mentees will experience. “In today’s workforce, with the technology and information overload, we don’t make as much time for one-on-one relationships, and people are really missing and seeing a need for that,” she said. Matches in Avnet’s mentoring program are chemistry based, and the couplings are informally structured to avoid any unnecessary administrative strain. Too many requirements can burden the participants from the beginning, which can cause relationships to stagnate and the program to flounder. Miller said regular performance management and development planning processes, which are required of all managers, provide enough structure. Also, mentors can give candid feedback in a safe environment because they’re not evaluating someone’s performance. But confidentiality is necessary because mentees should be free to discuss issues they may be nervous or hesitant to raise to their manager. “We want people to share ideas with each other and not be bound by any hard and fast rules,” Miller explained. “Though we do have some guidelines that we give to the mentee and the mentor on how to make a mentoring relationship more effective.” Another goal for Avnet’s mentoring program is to ensure the company has successors to fill key roles in the company’s transitioning workforce. “We’re facing the same thing a lot of companies are with an aging workforce and people thinking about moving on and doing other things very soon,” she said. “We need to fill those key roles and build bench strength throughout the organization.” Mentoring has filtered into other areas of the company. For instance, Miller said executives and leaders enjoy spending time mentoring young people who have joined the company’s internship program, and a lot of those relationships facilitate internal hires. Last year, she said, Avnet hired roughly a third of its 30 or so interns, and the mentoring relationships often continued post-hire. Miller said Avnet now is in the second round of its succession planning-talent management process. “Last year, we made some commitments as a result of identifying people’s development needs, and as we go through and update this year, we find that we did what we said we were going to do,” she said. “That’s pretty exciting because a lot of times you start new initiatives and they kind of fall by the wayside. But the organization has been very committed to this. Each year, we’re going to add more, maybe not structure, but more guidelines around mentoring and make it more communicative with employees. “I have a mentoring relationship with one of the group presidents here, and we meet on a monthly basis. We try not to talk about the work issues that we have in common and make it more about development, although sometimes we get sidetracked. He’ll give me observations from when he’s seen me in meetings and different settings. He’s given me books to read, and we’ll discuss them. We’ve talked about our common interests, balancing work and family — things that he’s seen. It’s been a very positive thing.” 38 talent management magazine www.TalentMgt.com http://www.TalentMgt.com
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of TM - May 2008 Talent Management - May 2008 Editor's Letter Contents Human Performance Leading Edge Learning Connections Make the Connection: Effective Employee Evaluations Vacation: The Benefit Many Employees Don't Take The Four Pillars of Managing Performance Transform Talent With Deeper Skill Specialization Mentoring's Role in Succession Planning Graybar: Supporting a Long-Term View of Talent Management American Diabetes Association: On a Mission to Improve Employee Health Taking the Talent Pulse: What Drives High Potentials? American Systems Employees Earn a Piece of the Pie Advertisers’ Index Editorial Resources Full Potential TM - May 2008 TM - May 2008 - (Page Intro) TM - May 2008 - Talent Management - May 2008 (Page Cover1) TM - May 2008 - Talent Management - May 2008 (Page Cover2) TM - May 2008 - Talent Management - May 2008 (Page 1) TM - May 2008 - Talent Management - May 2008 (Page 2) TM - May 2008 - Talent Management - May 2008 (Page 3) TM - May 2008 - Editor's Letter (Page 4) TM - May 2008 - Editor's Letter (Page 5) TM - May 2008 - Contents (Page 6) TM - May 2008 - Contents (Page 7) TM - May 2008 - Contents (Page 8) TM - May 2008 - Contents (Page 9) TM - May 2008 - Human Performance (Page 10) TM - May 2008 - Human Performance (Page 11) TM - May 2008 - Leading Edge (Page 12) TM - May 2008 - Leading Edge (Page 13) TM - May 2008 - Learning Connections (Page 14) TM - May 2008 - Learning Connections (Page 15) TM - May 2008 - Learning Connections (Page 16) TM - May 2008 - Learning Connections (Page 17) TM - May 2008 - Learning Connections (Page 18) TM - May 2008 - Learning Connections (Page 19) TM - May 2008 - Learning Connections (Page 20) TM - May 2008 - Learning Connections (Page 21) TM - May 2008 - Make the Connection: Effective Employee Evaluations (Page 22) TM - May 2008 - Make the Connection: Effective Employee Evaluations (Page 23) TM - May 2008 - Make the Connection: Effective Employee Evaluations (Page 24) TM - May 2008 - Make the Connection: Effective Employee Evaluations (Page 25) TM - May 2008 - Vacation: The Benefit Many Employees Don't Take (Page 26) TM - May 2008 - Vacation: The Benefit Many Employees Don't Take (Page 27) TM - May 2008 - Vacation: The Benefit Many Employees Don't Take (Page 28) TM - May 2008 - Vacation: The Benefit Many Employees Don't Take (Page 29) TM - May 2008 - The Four Pillars of Managing Performance (Page 30) TM - May 2008 - The Four Pillars of Managing Performance (Page 31) TM - May 2008 - The Four Pillars of Managing Performance (Page 32) TM - May 2008 - The Four Pillars of Managing Performance (Page 33) TM - May 2008 - Transform Talent With Deeper Skill Specialization (Page 34) TM - May 2008 - Transform Talent With Deeper Skill Specialization (Page 35) TM - May 2008 - Mentoring's Role in Succession Planning (Page 36) TM - May 2008 - Mentoring's Role in Succession Planning (Page 37) TM - May 2008 - Mentoring's Role in Succession Planning (Page 38) TM - May 2008 - Mentoring's Role in Succession Planning (Page 39) TM - May 2008 - Graybar: Supporting a Long-Term View of Talent Management (Page 40) TM - May 2008 - Graybar: Supporting a Long-Term View of Talent Management (Page 41) TM - May 2008 - American Diabetes Association: On a Mission to Improve Employee Health (Page 42) TM - May 2008 - American Diabetes Association: On a Mission to Improve Employee Health (Page 43) TM - May 2008 - Taking the Talent Pulse: What Drives High Potentials? (Page 44) TM - May 2008 - Taking the Talent Pulse: What Drives High Potentials? (Page 45) TM - May 2008 - Taking the Talent Pulse: What Drives High Potentials? (Page 46) TM - May 2008 - Taking the Talent Pulse: What Drives High Potentials? (Page 47) TM - May 2008 - American Systems Employees Earn a Piece of the Pie (Page 48) TM - May 2008 - Editorial Resources (Page 49) TM - May 2008 - Editorial Resources (Page 50) TM - May 2008 - Editorial Resources (Page 51) TM - May 2008 - Editorial Resources (Page 52) TM - May 2008 - Editorial Resources (Page Cover3) TM - May 2008 - Editorial Resources (Page Cover4)
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